U.S. industrial production up in October

WASHINGTON >> U.S. industry expanded slightly in October, with manufacturing growth offsetting declines in mining and utility production.

Industrial production ticked up a modest 0.1 percent last month, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. It was the fifth straight monthly gain and left output up 4.1 percent on a year-over-year basis.

The Fed said that recent hurricanes lowered production by about 0.1 percentage point in both September and October.

The economy has been growing at a solid rate this year. The gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July-September quarter, with manufacturing contributing to the momentum.

But there are concerns that the strong dollar and a slowdown in global growth could hurt future U.S. export sales. There are also worries about labor shortages and the impact of President Donald Trump’s get-tough trade policies, which have featured higher tariffs on aluminum and steel along with penalty tariffs on a range of Chinese goods. China. Other countries have already retaliated with penalty tariffs on American products.

Andrew Hunter, U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said that the new report “provides further evidence that economic growth is set for a gradual slowdown in the fourth quarter.”

Based on the industrial production report, economists at Macroeconomic Advisers trimmed their expectation for GDP growth in

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CARLOS OSORIO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE United Auto Workers’ assemblyman Charles Patterson installs trim on a 2018 Ford F-150 truck on the assembly line at the Ford Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich.